Last season was admittedly a tough one for quarterback Brandon Cox and the Auburn offense. A multitude of injuries including several to Cox turned what was previously one of the SEC's best offenses into a unit that just tried to survive each week and not give the game away on turnovers.

"We were ninth in the SEC in offense last year, and we haven't done that it awhile," said Cox. "We were No. 1 the two years before that, so it was different for us. It was one of those years where we had guys hurt and we just couldn't get anything going. We didn't jell as an offense, but everybody starting fresh and being healthy will help out."

The Tiger offense has already started to put aside the memories of last season and build toward 2007 with the start of spring practice. Cox is determined that AU's offense will not retreat into a shell again this year.

"This is my senior year," said Cox. "We don't have as many seniors as we did last year, but we've got a lot of guys who will have a say-so in what is going to happen. We've got together as seniors, and we've talked about it. 'This is our senior year. This is how we're going to be remembered.'

"We were all here for that 13-0 season. We saw what it took. We're using them as an example on how to be seniors."

Cox is already putting pressure on himself to step up even more as a leader.